Meet ‘N’ Greet #10 – People in Tiny Houses in Europe

New Tiny House interview from the Netherlands featuring the thought process, persuading your other half and the positive and challenging sides to living tiny. 

Tips and fun facts about Tiny House living at the end!

A huge thanks to Sanne who has taken the time to share their experience and has named the interview: 

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A tiny house: Only for the brave!

From the bathroom, my boyfriend is screaming this free shower made possible by the storm last night feels awesome! 

This is how one sentence describes tiny living like a rollercoaster, a wild storm a nothing-compare-situation. 

Follow Sanne and her Boyfriend on their Tiny House adventure through their Instagram: Morelifetotiny

Thus when I received a message from Peter Cox to do an interview, I thought I could interest the readers to build a tiny house themselves. Then I read back the part describing living in a tiny house and realized that those sentences probably would scare the hell out of you. If I’m right about that, then stop reading 😉

Okay, what I wrote above was maybe not the best way to introduce myself ;). Thanks for sticking with me though. 

I am from the Netherlands, but I travelled and picked up many languages and influences along the way, so I consider myself a world-citizen. Though eventually, I decided to settle for some time, together with my partner. I found a job, I bought an apartment in Rotterdam, and then the tiny house idea derailed all the plans we made. 

At first, I couldn’t convince my partner to consider even living in a tiny house. We just bought an apartment and worked so hard. “Let’s try to enjoy and appreciate the things we’ve achieved”, he said. But he knew I was already obsessed with tiny houses since 2015. It started with an addiction to tiny house videos uploaded on YouTube. Every time I watched a video, the feeling grew stronger to just go for this! I am still addicted to tiny house tours ;).

One day I saw a post on Facebook. A nice couple was looking for people interested in building a tiny house community with them. The deadline for handing in a budget, motivation, and design was about one week. I did not panic, ah, maybe a little. That week I worked every night to craft a plan and luckily I had my partner on board. He built a tiny house made of LEGO® and it did the job. We were selected from 200 people that were interested, not knowing this was the easiest part of the tiny house journey. We started to research the many, to us unfamiliar, options. 

Should we build a tiny house ourselves? Where to start researching? Who to talk to? We need references!

I went to several open house days about tiny houses. I think at some point they got tired of me and all my questions. That’s part of the deal when you choose this lifestyle. Tiny houses are still a new phenomenon in the Netherlands so it draws a lot of attention! 

When I think about all the challenges we’ve run into, the first thing I would start with is picking the right tiny house builder. Remember I mentioned, “look for references”?. That is the benchmark of success or failure, in hindsight. At the start of the process, we’ve met with several tiny house builders. Professional ones but expensive, the passionate ones but not building to Dutch construction regulations, burn-out ones(probably because of building their own tiny house and 2 years ago the choice was still limited). Finally, our neighbour recommended her tiny house builder to us. 

Another challenge that was driving us crazy, was getting the right permit. The specific details we’ve had to consider with fairly little knowledge was causing a headache. It was hard to document everything correctly. Luckily, we could ask our future neighbour for help. They were in the same situation after all. 

The design was also a major thing. Imagining the dimensions of a normal house with plenty of ample space is difficult enough, let alone the dimensions of a tiny house. I think we’ve designed over ten different designs. Endless hours at the drawing table. Asking ourselves, how can we fit everything into 26 square meters? But that was the wrong way of thinking, we now know. 

When you start designing, imagine the life you want to have. The tiny house is the vehicle for that. Do you want less stuff? Imagine a space where you only see your favourite things. Make a list, and start designing accordingly. That doesn’t mean it goes exactly that way though! 

Initially, we planned to put our solar panels on the roof of the tiny house. Turns out, we would lose the warranty of the tiny house builder if we installed them without an expert. Since that option was way over budget, we got creative. Instead, we’ve built a veranda and installed the solar panels on that roof. Nice addition, I got to hang my hammock, on the veranda, that I bought during my travels in Colombia. Waited 7 years at the moment I could hang in it! 

The people who surround you are an important factor in the process. The majority will not understand what you are up to but react enthusiastically. Although I’ve heard from others that they received negative responses too. People, in general, don’t seem to understand tiny houses. Don’t let that distract you. We as a community also received negative responses from the neighbourhood. It even ended up in the local newspaper. Be aware that, like it or not, tiny house living can put you in the spotlights. 

Let me tell you about the bright side of things. Many people in my environment ask me how I can live this way. “What? Two people on just 26 square meters? You don’t know if you have enough water to take a shower?” Yeah, some days. This is what I call typical tiny house humour 😉 How can you wish for rainfall otherwise? 

Living in our tiny house community brought a change in our lives. We are spending more days outside than before, we started to grow food together with the community, we learn new skills all the time. The tiny house lifestyle changes your mindset. If you take one thing from this interview, take that. It made us more conscious about what we want from life. It made us closer in a good sense. For many years we thought about adopting a cat. Guess what? We just found Max, a 5-year-old cat who was looking for a new home and specifically a great outdoor playground where he can catch a mouse or two. 

I would like to help you! 

If you read this far, you’re probably pretty serious about tiny houses and in for some practical tips. You might wonder where to start. 

 1.  Find a like-minded community. There are people with the same dream. You could approach the municipality together for a location in your area. Search for groups on Facebook, consult blogs about tiny houses and especially go to open houses of existing tiny house communities. Ask about local building regulations. 

2.  Start saving money. Find a bank that is willing to provide you with a loan, ideally against an attractive interest rate. If your tiny house is not on wheels, there’s a chance you’re eligible for a mortgage. 

3.  Start designing. Learn Sketch Up or just draw your perfect tiny house. Don’t think lightly about this step. You are using the square meters more intensively than in a standard house, thus get to know your routine, implement that into the design. 

Equally important, plan for the future. Are you thinking about children in the future? A pet? A hobby? Do you want to practice Yoga? Design for that purpose.

1. Find a reliable tiny house builder. Check his/her references. Think about intake and be critical of communication. It’s about your house a great chunk of your life. If something feels off don’t do it. Delays are normal and sometimes happen for good reasons. A good tiny house builder uses his experience to help you with your design choices. Is the tiny house builder offering you a standard floorplan? Say no. Go for a custom plan. In the long term, this will make living in your tiny house so much easier. 

2. Get rid of clutter. That will help you get used to less stuff. Maybe obvious, but don’t wait with this to the last moment. People tend to get attached to stuff, even if they don’t use it. A few things to keep in mind to stay positive about decluttering: you can sell your stuff, use the profits to buy good wine, bring it to the local thrift store and make other people happy, or organize a giveaway for your friends(even better, make it a party!). Reward yourself every time you got rid of something. Something like, “okay now I deserve to watch a good movie or a warm bath”. At a certain point, you’ll notice the process itself of decluttering becomes rewarding. You’ll get there! 

3.  I can’t emphasize planning enough. Make a timeline. We used a calendar and a scrum board to keep track of everything. Make categories, like “build”, “finances”, and “design”. 

4.  Don’t think you’re done when you move in. Consider the garden, additional systems, registering your tiny house, and whatnot. Plan for that too. Most tiny house people I’ve been talking to, say that after 4 months average, you start to feel at home. A tiny house works a bit differently. Just a bit ;). 

5.  Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask for help! 

Fun facts

#1. Researching, building, and finishing the tiny house took us 2.5 years.

#2. We estimated that we needed a budget of 33.000 euros, including all the off-grid systems. Eventually, we exceeded the budget with 10.000 euros. Always taking into account the possibility of exceeding the budget ;).

#3. We considered a boathouse at some point. Turned out to be impractical and more costly.

#4. Our cat weighs 6 kilos. No so tiny! 

#5. The tiny house was built in the Netherlands but is partly painted with Scandinavian red. 

#6. After two weeks we insured our tiny house. There was just one insurance company that had a special package for tiny houses. The insurance is like 10 times more expensive than regular house insurance. 

#7. Our monthly expenses roughly dropped to 2 / 10th of what we paid for the previous house. 

#8. I still dream about building a tiny house myself and then give it to my younger sister. I’ll let you know when that becomes a reality. 

#9. We never thought we would end up in a not yet published book about tiny house living. 

#10. Together we take care of 4 chickens and hopefully soon a bunch of little chickens! 

#11. Remember I had to convince my boyfriend to go for tiny living? Turns out he’s way better than me living this lifestyle in reality!

#12. We had a whole group interior designers working at Ikea, visiting us to get inspired for their category ”small spaces”. 

Last but not least: It’s impossible to write down the whole process we went through, though I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. Ask me anything, anytime.  

Remember, the tiny house journey is difficult but so rewarding in the end! 

Instagram: Morelifetotiny


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Huge thanks to Sanne for sharing her story with her boyfriend and their Tiny House adventure.

For more interviews see the list:   Meet ‘n’ Greet Tiny House Interviews  

More on Tiny houses in Europe in general, jump to the link.

More interviews on the way!